Jill Biden, the First Lady of the United States, made waves this week after she made a most unusual request in the wake of LSU’s victory over Iowa in the NCCA women’s basketball championship game. Dr. Biden said that she would suggest to President Joe Biden that both teams appear at the White House for the customary visit presented to national sports champions, which caused a stir online.
Jill Biden was in attendance at the final game featuring the victorious Louisiana State University Tigers and the Iowa State University Hawkeyes this past Sunday. Without a doubt, both teams were electrifying to watch en route to the championship contest with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark putting on a scoring clinic any time she stepped on the floor.
However, Clark’s heroics weren’t enough to defeat the strong team effort from LSU and, of course, the moment people can’t stop talking about is LSU player Angel Reese giving Clark a bit of her own “Can’t See Me” medicine.
As ESPN reports, Dr. Biden spoke at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver on Monday and extended the invite to both teams.
“I know we’ll have the champions come to the White House; we always do. So, we hope LSU will come,” Biden said. “But, you know, I’m going to tell Joe I think Iowa should come too, because they played such a good game.”
Reese retweeted the news of the potential Iowa invite and captioned the tweet “A JOKE,” which echoed a sentiment shared by many online. Typically, the champions, including the players, coaches, and staff, are invited to the White House for a further celebration of their epic wins. As far as it’s been reported, a runner-up has never been extended an invite to the White House.
https://twitter.com/Reese10Angel/status/1643024890813874179?s=20
What we can say with confidence is that women’s basketball is just as vital as men’s basketball and March Madness didn’t disappoint on either side. Reese is also leaning into the discussion by not backing down from her gesture and saying she hopes to keep growing women’s basketball. Kudos to that.
Check out the reaction to First Lady Jill Biden extending invitations to LSU and Iowa to the White House below.
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Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty
